


when you head out, you arrive

by guildensterns



Category: NCT (Band), SuperM (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-23 05:53:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21315244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guildensterns/pseuds/guildensterns
Summary: Ten goes on tour and leaves his favourite shirt behind.  Taehyung isn't going to let it go to waste.
Relationships: Kim Taehyung | V/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Comments: 5
Kudos: 49





	when you head out, you arrive

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [this tweet](https://twitter.com/queersona/status/1191360389113532416)!
> 
> i wrote this entire thing on a two hour train journey so please forgive me for the glaring inconsistencies re. schedules, time zones, characterisations, the logic of the universe, etc. i simultaneously can and can't believe this pairing is so rare but please...write more...for me to read...thank you...

Ten wakes up warm, almost stiflingly so. He cracks open his eyes to see what time it is, and when he realises it’s only 5am, he presses back into the warmth, seeking out the comfort of Taehyung’s embrace. 

It hasn’t been long since they got together—what, four months now, five?—but waking up like this has become Ten’s favourite thing. They’d managed to spend some time together while Tae was on vacation, but Ten had been busy preparing for debuts and comebacks and everything under the sun, and getting to fall into bed with Taehyung in the evenings had been a rare indulgence even then. 

Now, between Tae’s comeback preparations and Ten’s promotional activities—not to mention the touring—waking up like this is a miracle, and no matter how stuffy the heat is, Ten wants to make the most of it for as long as he can. He snuggles further under the covers, feels Tae stir and move slightly so that his chin is resting upon the crown of Ten’s head, pulling him in even closer with large hands splayed across his stomach.

“Mmf,” Tae murmurs. “Early. Sleep.”

Ten giggles, turns slightly to press a tiny kiss to Taehyung’s neck, then his collarbone. “M’kay.”

Taehyung murmurs something again, this time too steeped in Daegu-isms for Ten to fully understand, but he appreciates the low rumble beneath his ear, and curls into Tae, drifting off against the peaceful rise and fall of his boyfriend’s chest.

He wakes again an hour later, startled by the abrupt ringing of his alarm. He switches it off quickly, knowing Taehyung can’t really afford any longer in bed either but wanting to give it to him anyway. It’s a Monday, and Ten has to be at the airport in a few hours for his flight to the US. He’s excited to be touring, feels vibrant and energetic, but he’s sad to be leaving Taehyung. He likes to have a lot on his plate, but he’s starting to think that this is a bit much. 

He pulls off his sleep shirt and throws it onto the floor next to his suitcase, deciding he’ll deal with it after a shower and some breakfast. It’s not really a sleep shirt, but one with a funny caption—“My cat is Rockstar & I’m a manager”—that he’s had for a while and will wear to bed sometimes if he’s feeling particularly lazy. Taehyung always laughs when he sees it, says that his dog, Yeontan, is a rock star and that he feels like his manager most of the time.

Ten stretches, closes his eyes, feels the sun warm his chest as it peeks through the cracks in the venetian blinds. He likes this hotel, has been here a couple of times with Tae now; it’s discreet, but they have to change it up regularly, not wanting to be spotted in the same place at the same time too often.

He showers, humming a few songs and running through the choreography in his head. He always spends too long in the shower whenever he has the chance, and before he knows it, Taehyung is joining him, eyes barely open, making grabby hands for whatever he can. His hair is sticking up on one side; his eyes are puffy and his mouth is open as though he was about to say something and forgot what before the words could make it out.

“Good morning,” Ten grins. He feels much more awake now, conditioner in his hair and the scent of ginseng in his nose. He helps Taehyung stand directly beneath the showerhead, laughing as the other man splutters and grimaces under the downpour. 

“Is it?” Taehyung asks. His voice is rough with sleep, and he whines, reaching out to pull Ten in for a hard kiss, then another one, and another. He lets him go when Ten begins to giggle too much, teeth clashing, and smiles, big and boxy. “That’s better.”

“Mhm,” Ten agrees. They spend the next few minutes fumbling around, trying to get themselves clean while staying as close to each other as possible. Taehyung goes to leave a hickey on Ten’s neck before the smaller man stamps on his foot and reminds him that he’s leaving to go on tour today, and the make-up artists will not appreciate his artwork.

By the time they stumble out of the bathroom, there’s only an hour before Ten has to leave. They order room service and eat kimchi buchimgae for breakfast, cross-legged on the bed with their feet touching. 

“How long until you’re back?” Taehyung asks, chopstick in his mouth.

Ten frowns, thinks for a moment. “A few weeks? But then I have to fly out to Wuhan for a fan meet.”

“But we can have a couple of nights together at least, right?”

Ten shrugs. “I hope so, but I’m not sure. Won’t you have a lot on too?”

Tae sighs, picks up their tray of leftover pancake and places it gently on the floor, and then tackles Ten, collapsing on top of him and breathing in deeply. “I’ll miss you.”

Ten wraps his arms around the other man’s neck and clings on, rubbing his nose against Taehyung’s in a sort of Eskimo kiss. He’s a couple of months younger than Taehyung, and yet sometimes he feels older, as though he needs to take care of the other like a hyung would. It’s something about the openness with which Tae displays his emotions, the way he stares down at Ten and seems to say everything and more with his eyes, his downturned mouth. Ten knows there’s more to him, secrets and stories that Ten doesn’t get to know, not yet, perhaps never, but he still feels privileged, somehow, as though he’s allowed to see a special, vulnerable side of Taehyung, one that will miss him while he’s away in the US.

“I’ll miss you too,” he returns, lifting himself up onto his elbows so that he can connect their lips in a lingering kiss, one that is hot with spice and tastes like kimchi, one that he’ll think of every night while he’s away.

He leaves a few minutes later, bidding goodbye to Taehyung in the doorway of their hotel room so that they aren’t seen together. It gets harder each time, and Ten isn’t oblivious enough to not realise that he’s falling for Tae, deeper and deeper each time he sees him. 

The car is waiting for him outside, and before he knows it he’s in the air, making small talk with Lucas and rubbing at his neck, wishing Taehyung had left a mark after all, wishing he’d been allowed. By the time they touch down on US soil, he’s exhausted. Mark pats him on the back with far too much energy, and Ten groans, drags himself into the hotel room and collapses onto a bed that doesn’t feel right, doesn’t smell right, is too big for him.

He pulls out his phone, fires off a few texts letting people know that yes, he’s made it, he’s okay. There are no messages from Taehyung, which is a little odd, but Ten just shrugs, figures his boyfriend has had a busy day and lost track of time. He’s about to half-walk, half-crawl into the bathroom to shower and race through a much-needed skincare routine, but he decides to log into Twitter on his private account just to make sure he hasn’t missed anything important while in the air.

He scrolls past official posts, laughs at a couple of dumb things Johnny has tweeted on his private account, and is about to close the app when he catches a glimpse of the @BTS_twt username. He scrolls back up, vaguely curious, and lets out a laugh, one that keeps coming until there are tears running down his cheeks. There, underneath the caption “Thanks for making the best t-shirt~”, is Ten’s sleep shirt, the very shirt he left lying on the hotel room floor earlier today, except it now reads “My Tan is Rockstar & I’m a manager,” a couple of lines drawn through “cat” with a felt tip pen. 

It’s been done in such a way that no-one will know, of course; to the fans, to management, the tweet is about Yeontan, something trivial, something cute. But Ten knows who the post is really for, who Tae is really saying thank you to, and it makes him feel so warm inside, like a teenager being asked to prom, like Taehyung is lying beside him right now, right here.

He laughs again, cradles the phone against his chest, and thinks he doesn’t mind so much that his boyfriend has ruined his shirt.


End file.
